Syracuse center Baye Moussa Keita will have surgery next week

SU freshman Baye Moussa Keita will undergo surgery next week, though Syracuse officials have declined to say what kind of surgery Keita will have.

The 6-foot-10 native of Senegal injured his left wrist mid-way through SU's 2010-11 season. At the Connecticut game on Feb. 2, he pointed to an area near the base of his left thumb when asked what part of his hand/wrist bothered him enough to receive medical treatment for it. He re-injured the area on Feb. 12 at Louisville, when he left the game with 10:18 remaining in the second half.

In the Louisville game, Keita scrambled to the floor in pursuit of a loose ball and emerged from the scrum wincing and holding his wrist. SU athletic trainer Brad Pike said after the game that Keita had sustained another blow to that sore wrist.

On Feb. 19, after a Dome game against Rutgers, Keita said he had received an injection into his hand that allowed him to play relatively pain-free.

Keita played most of the season with the wrist wrapped. Later in the year, the tape that protected his wrist got heavier and more intricate.

He said, at the time, that the wrist was simply bruised and that the wider swatch of tape was helping to protect the injury. He's also said the injury was not particularly painful, that it was nagging and bothersome.